UC Wins 2 Titles, Breaks 3 NJ Records, Earns Several All-American Finishes At New Balance Nationals
By Jim Lambert
The Union Catholic track and field teams once again displayed its superior firepower and remarkable depth of talent to the rest of the country when the Vikings captured two national titles, broke three state records and produced several jaw-dropping results at the New Balance National Track and Field Championships this past weekend.
The Vikings produced an astounding 22 All-Americans during the four-day meet!
The national championships came from Taylor Cox in the girls 60-meter hurdles as the junior smashed the NJ record with her time of 8.11, and from the girls sprint medley relay team of Cox, Taylor Aska, Rhia Randolph, and Paige Sheppard, who teamed up to shatter the state record. Randolph, a freshman, earned three All-American finishes with her carries on the SMR, the third-place 4×400, and she was fifth in the 200 in 23.99, the second-fastest time in NJ history!
The NJ record in the hurdles is something that’s always been in the back of Cox’s mind.
It’s a target Cox put out there for herself to chase in order to keep pushing herself to see how low she could go.
Cox once again put that record in her cross-hairs on Sunday, and this time she blew it apart in electrifying and breathtaking fashion on the biggest stage, stopping the clock at 8.11 to break the NJ record and the meet record.
Cox, fifth in the HH at NBN last year, didn’t just break any NJ record, she took down a record held by arguably the greatest high school female track and field in U.S. history, Sydney McLaughlin!!!! McLaughlin, the world record holder in the 400 hurdles and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, set the NJ record of 8.17 when she finished first when she was a sophomore at Union Catholic at the 2015 New Balance Nationals at the New York Armory.
The stunning victory in the hurdles capped off a sensational weekend for Cox, who also led off UC’s sprint medley relay victory on Friday when the Vikings ran 3:54.62, a NJ record and the fifth-fastest time in U.S. high school indoor history.
Along with her NJ and meet record on Sunday, Cox’s 8.11 also places her tied for No. 6 in U.S. high school history and is No. 3 all-time for a junior.
Cox’s national championship puts an exclamation point on the greatest season in NJ indoor history by a female hurdler.
Cox finished the season with a perfect 7-0 record over the barriers, she broke 8.00 in all five of her races at 55 meters, and she ran under 8.30 in her two races at 60 meters.
In addition to her state record-breaking 8.11 on Sunday, Cox also broke McLaughlin’s meet record when she won her second straight NJ Meet of Champions title in 7.73, and broke another McLaughlin record by running 7.84 at the State Non-Public A Championships, the fastest time ever run in the six State Group Championships combined.
So what will Cox’s next target be?
How about the national 60-meter hurdle record of 8.02, set by Tonea Marshall of Seguin High in Arlington, Texas at the 2016 New Balance National Championships at the NY Armory?
Could Cox break Marshall’s national record next year?
Time will tell, but I would never bet against her!!!
The Vikings nearly swept the boys and girls sprint medley relays.
The UC girls really leveled up in the SMR by dropping some huge bombs when they put two teams on the podium, had three teams in the top seven and smashed the state record!!! How incredible is that!!!
Cox and Aska combined to run 49.49 on their 200 legs, Randolph split 55.55 for 400, and Sheppard finished it off with a 2:09.60 carry to bring the Vikings across first in 3:54.62,.a new state record and the fifth-fastest time in U.S. high school indoor history. The former NJ state record in the girls SMR was 3:57.19, set by Columbia when it finished first at the 2014 New Balance National Championships at the New York Armory.
UC also had a team finish third in the SMR in 3:59.99, No. 3 in state history, and a third team was seventh in 4:02.80, No. 7 in state history.
That’s right, UC had 12 girls on three different SMR teams running three of the seven fastest times in NJ history!!! How crazy is that!!!
And the UC boys nearly won the SMR also, as Marcus McCoy, Al-Qamar Rojas, Avery Atexide, and Keandre Kelly ran 3:29.15, No. 13 in state history, to place second!
The UC girls also earned All-American honors in the 4xmile and 4×400 relays.
In the 4xmile, Emmy O’Hearrn (5:12.8), Paige Sheppard (5:00.7), Cayleigh Kaiser (5:06.8), and Sophia Thompson (4:58.7) combined to finish fifth in a state record 20:19.02. The former record of 20:37 was set by Roxbury in 20.
The Vikings also earned All-American honors in the boys shuttle hurdles and the girls 4×400, and Randolph earned All-American with a sensational performance in the girls 200.
In the boys shuttles, Rojas, Chris Wilson, Noah Cooper, and McCoy finished fifth in 30.79, the No. 1 time in NJ this season.
The girls 4×400 quartet of Aska (58.07), Sydney Chadwick (56.24), Jimmiea King (57.79, and Randolph (55.31) combined to place third in 3:47.59, the fastest time in the state this season.
Randolph simply torched the track in the one-lapper, blasting a 23.99 to place fifth. That broke Randolph’s own state freshman record of 24.44 and moved her up to No. 2 in NJ indoor history. Only the great Wendy Vereen of Trenton (23.87 in 1984) has run faster than Randolph in state indoor history.
